Embattled St. George businessman Jeremy Johnson says new Utah Attorney General John Swallow helped broker a deal in 2010 in which Johnson believed he was to pay Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid $600,000 to make a federal investigation into Johnson's company go away.

But when the federal government filed a lawsuit Johnson thought he had paid to quash, he demanded Swallow return some of the $250,000 initial payment. Then, just days before the Nov. 6 election, Johnson engaged in a frenetic but unsuccessful effort to get Swallow to drop out of the race, saying information about what Johnson called a "bribe" would come out and force the Republican's resignation if he became attorney general.

Johnson's allegations come less than a week after Swallow took the oath of office. Federal agents have interviewed several Utahns about Johnson's relationship with Swallow, among other issues, according to those interviewed. The FBI would not comment.

Johnson said he does not know if any of the money he paid in the deal actually reached anyone connected to Reid.

[An Nahar] The Food and Drug Administration is requiring makers of Ambien and similar sleeping pills to lower the dosage of their drugs, based on studies suggesting patients face a higher risk of injury due to morning drowsiness.If you lower the dosage that means they gotta take two pills rather than one...I'm a mere physician but even I thought of that in about two seconds...

"Math is hard."

That's not math, that's multiplication... Or maybe it's fractions?

The agency said Thursday that new research shows that the drugs remain in the bloodstream at levels high enough to interfere with alertness and coordination, which increases the risk of car accidents.

Regulators are ordering drug manufacturers to cut the dose of the medications in half for women, who process the drug more slowly. Doses will be lowered from 10 milligrams to 5 milligrams for regular products, and 12.5 milligrams to 6.25 milligrams for extended-release formulations.

The FDA is recommending that manufacturers apply these lower doses to men as well, though it is not making them a requirement.

Sexist!!!

The new doses apply to all insomnia treatments containing the drug zolpidem, which is sold under brands including Ambien, Edluar, Zolpimist and in generic forms. It is the most widely prescribed sleeping aid prescribed in the U.S. The changes don't affect other popular sleeping medicines like Lunesta and Sonata, which use different drugs.

FDA officials pointed out that all sleeping drugs carry warnings about drowsiness.Since, well you know...
"All sleep drugs have the potential to cause this, so health professionals should prescribe -- and patients should take -- the lowest dose that is capable of preventing insomnia," said Dr. Ellis Unger, a director in FDA's Office of Drug Evaluation, on a teleconference with reporters.

Ambien has been blamed for several recent high-profile driving accidents in the past year, including Tom Brokaw in September and Kerry Kennedy in July.Since they were stupid enough to drive after taking sleeping pills?
The FDA has received more than 700 reports of driving-related problems connected to zolpidem over the years.

"But in most cases it was very difficult to determine if the driving impairment was actually related to zolpidem," Unger said. "Usually the reports did not contain information about when the accident happened or how much time had lapsed since taking the drug."

#5
And Nanny Bloomberg is restricting the amount of pain medication available in NYC hospitals because some people are abusing it. "so you didnt get enough painkillers and you did have to suffer a little bit."

It's a projection,damn it. Who's going to argue with a projection? Not when you are mellowing out.
Gov. Jerry Brown took office two years ago promising that he had the know-how and the fiscal prudence to guide the state out of its financial crisis, and on Thursday he delivered a budget without a deficit.

It's the first time since 2007 that leaders at the Capitol haven't had a deficit to contend with and the first time since the late 1990s that the outlook over future years shows surpluses instead of deficits.

"This is new. This is a breakthrough," Brown told reporters at a news conference where he presented his spending plan for the 2013-14 year that begins July 1.

The governor promised discipline in spending - K-12 public schools and higher education received significant increases in funding - and in paying off the state's accrued debt.

He's likely to face opposition from Statehouse liberals who would rather see funding restored to programs that have been slashed in recent years, but Thursday his plan was widely praised by Democrats and Republicans.

Some in the GOP did, however, question whether the governor was being too optimistic with his deficit projections.

#2
Marketwatch in November state California faces an unfunded liability of $100 billion in its Public Employees Retirement System and $65 billion in its State Teachers Retirement System.
Funny how the article didn't mention that.

#6
They already know they are coming in under the projection by at least 10%. They are already planning on increasing spending by "only" 5%. There will be no surplus. There will be no balanced budget. There will be more of the same, and shame on anyone who won't admit it.

#10
In the California section of the Sacramento Bee today and yesterday, they are already talking about the pay increase for state workers, the incresaed money that can go to "education" (read the Teachers union demand for pay increases) and nothing, nothing about the the pending debt, retirement, or anything about a substantial reserve. All we did was give them more money to spend on their friends.

#12
Like many States, CA has multiple balance sheets. There is debt service as a cost, bond sales as income, various special accounts and all sorts of contingency accounts. This makes it almost impossible to actually know what is actually going on unless you are 'inside'.

#13
Not unlike the former USSR + Commie Bloc, IFF CALIFORNIA PRETENDS TO ITSELF THAT IT HAS NO DEBT, IT DOESN'T.

Just do a few ole' Soviet/Commie-esque accounting "write-offs" + personnel switches, ....@etc, "fudge the books" then soon California can once again happily "spend spend spend" as its debts never existed to begin with.

Gov. Deval Patrick today fired back at ex-U.S. Rep. Barney Frank's suggestion that it would be "petty" for the governor not to name Frank to the temporary Senate seat due to public pressure."Would that be a part of the public pressure?" the governor asked -- adding a short laugh -- at a press conference today. It's clear he caught Frank's comment in the National Journal today and isn't enjoying it all.

"Guess what," Patrick added. "I'm going to choose somebody and all the other people on my list will be mad." He then suggested everyone jockeying for the soon-to-be vacant Senate seat -- if U.S. Sen. John Kerry is named Secretary of State -- "relax."

Frank is quoted in the National Journal saying he has no regrets about letting Patrick know he wants the interim job and stands by going public with that fact. "I don't think it's going to hurt me," Frank told the National Journal. "Why would it hurt me? The governor would have to be pretty petty."He is. And he is...

#1
Now remind me again why electing Senators is so inferior to the old fashion method of selecting a favorite of the controlling party of that state [to represent the interest of the political machine]?

A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.